In electrical hardware, a transistor is a critical component for implementing digital and analog circuitry designs. Generally, a transistor includes three electrical terminals: a source, a drain, and a gate. By applying different voltages to the gate terminal, the flow of electric current between the source terminal and the drain terminal of the transistor can be switched on or off. The presence or absence of an applied voltage at the gate terminal of a transistor can be identified as “on” and “off” states of the transistor. Thus, transistors can serve as a switching element in various circuit designs, e.g., by manipulating a voltage applied to the gate of each transistor and thereby affecting the flow of electrical current between source and drain terminals of each transistor. These attributes cause a transistor to be a fundamental component in electronic circuitry, e.g., radio frequency (RF) amplifiers, transmitters, oscillators, filters, etc.
Over time transistors have become more specialized in their design to meet different circuit requirements. Some low voltage semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS) processes require the use of high voltage circuit blocks, or charge pumps to perform necessary applications. Techniques and other devices presently exist that use low voltage devices in high voltage charge pumps. However, these low voltage devices have characteristics that make their use undesirable at high voltages. The use of Low voltage devices at high voltages requires the use of many stages and other circuit components, including capacitors, to reduce the possibility of circuit failure when using high voltages. The use and number of these components and stages reduce area efficiency and decreases the power efficiency of the circuit. In some cases, the use of low voltage tolerant devices at high voltages, could lead to component failure.